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Nov 7, 2013
11/13
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mr. merkley: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to have a short colloquy with the junior senator from arizona and the senator from wisconsin. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much. i appreciate so much the comments of my colleague from arizona on the challenges inherent in getting our budget under control, and i particularly appreciated over the last few days the conversation we've had about the employment nondiscrimination act. and i would like to say that you have -- the senator from arizona has brought particular value in expressing concerns about how we make sure businesses have the guidance that they will need to implement this act effectively and that particularly, as this act embraces an area and that is transgender discrimination, that was not a part of the act that was considered in the house of representatives. mr. flake: i thank the gentleman from oregon. i appreciate the work that -- that his office did with my office this week to try to arrive at language tha
mr. merkley: thank you. i ask unanimous consent to have a short colloquy with the junior senator from arizona and the senator from wisconsin. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much. i appreciate so much the comments of my colleague from arizona on the challenges inherent in getting our budget under control, and i particularly appreciated over the last few days the conversation we've had about the employment nondiscrimination act. and i would like to say that...
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Nov 6, 2013
11/13
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mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. this list is a list that americans would well be familiar with, the methodist groups, jewish groups and so on and so forth from the specter of protestant religion, christian religions, other religions. it's powerful and helpful that they have written to share their perspectives, and i thank them for doing so. business coalitions have also waited. i have here the business -- the letter from the business coalition for workplace fairness. their letter is much shorter. it's signed onto approximately 120 companies. and i will read it for you now. it says the majority of united states businesses have already started addressing workplace fairness for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, but we need a federal standard that treats all employees the same way. the business coalition for workplace fairness is a group of leading u.s. employers that support the employee nondiscrimination act, a federal bill that would provide the same basic protections that are already afforded to work
mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. this list is a list that americans would well be familiar with, the methodist groups, jewish groups and so on and so forth from the specter of protestant religion, christian religions, other religions. it's powerful and helpful that they have written to share their perspectives, and i thank them for doing so. business coalitions have also waited. i have here the business -- the letter from the business coalition for workplace fairness. their letter is much...
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Nov 6, 2013
11/13
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mr. merkley: thank you. i rise simply to ask unanimous consent that my intern who is shadowing me today, chloe becker, be accorded full privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much, madam president. and i recognize -- i ask the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, the budget conferees are working to reach agreement on the fiscal year 2014 budget. i want to complement senator murray for the great work she has done on this. and i would join those who have expressed strong support for their efforts. we all know the consequences will be if we don't reach agreement on a budget, we have draconian cuts to defense acquisitions and readiness but also the social safety net program
mr. merkley: thank you. i rise simply to ask unanimous consent that my intern who is shadowing me today, chloe becker, be accorded full privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much, madam president. and i recognize -- i ask the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent...
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Nov 20, 2013
11/13
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merkley: thank you, mr. president. i rise today along with my colleague from new mexico to protest the paralysis that has kept the senate from confirming well-qualified nominees to do their jobs. the u.s. senate provides the opportunity for all of us to weigh in under our constitutional role of advice and consent. advice and consent regarding nominations to the executive branch and to the judicial branch by the president. now, everyone in this body agrees that the senate should under this responsibility serve as a significant check on the quality of presidential nominations. the quality of nominations or nominees for the court and for executive positions, and i certainly share that sentiment that the senate should provide this significant check on quality. the senate should vet nominees. we should question them. we should debate them, and then we should vote on whether to confirm or reject them. what was absolutely clearer, however, is that when advice and consent becomes block and destroy, then the senate process is b
merkley: thank you, mr. president. i rise today along with my colleague from new mexico to protest the paralysis that has kept the senate from confirming well-qualified nominees to do their jobs. the u.s. senate provides the opportunity for all of us to weigh in under our constitutional role of advice and consent. advice and consent regarding nominations to the executive branch and to the judicial branch by the president. now, everyone in this body agrees that the senate should under this...
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Nov 13, 2013
11/13
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mr. merkley: thank you very much. i rise, mr. president, to address an issue that should be of concern to all americans and that is the advice and consent function of the u.s. senate regarding nominations. this is the critical check envisioned by our founders in which the president has the power to nominate for the executive branch positions and for judicial nominees, and in the senate held responsible to provide a check to make sure there are not outrageous nominees that are placed in positions and that is the advice and consent function. which throughout our history has basically been a simple majority function with very rare exception. now, this issue comes up at this moment because two weeks ago, a minority of this body in the senate would not allow there to be a vote on whether or not to confirm mel watt. they did that by preventing there being enough votes to close debate. so that blockade was basically put in place without respecting, if you will, the fact that mel watt is highly qualified for his position at the federal h
mr. merkley: thank you very much. i rise, mr. president, to address an issue that should be of concern to all americans and that is the advice and consent function of the u.s. senate regarding nominations. this is the critical check envisioned by our founders in which the president has the power to nominate for the executive branch positions and for judicial nominees, and in the senate held responsible to provide a check to make sure there are not outrageous nominees that are placed in...
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Nov 20, 2013
11/13
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over to you, mr. chairman. >> senator merkley? >> thank you very much. i wanted to ask a couple things related to different forms of crimes that -- quote crimes thaa have occurred with bitcoins. the first thing i want to ask i there is a centralized public ledger that's encrypted. so the anonymity is
over to you, mr. chairman. >> senator merkley? >> thank you very much. i wanted to ask a couple things related to different forms of crimes that -- quote crimes thaa have occurred with bitcoins. the first thing i want to ask i there is a centralized public ledger that's encrypted. so the anonymity is
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Nov 20, 2013
11/13
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over to you, mr. chairman. >> senator merkley? >> thank you very much. i wanted to ask a couple things related to different forms of crimes that -- quote crimes thaa have occurred with bitcoins. the first thing i want to ask i there is a centralized public ledger that's encrypted. so the anonymity is only in ulyn terms of -- you're not truly anonymous. there is an encrypted version of who owns what. so one concern about the, if you will, the reliability of the currency is whether that encryption can actually be broken. so i want to ask that question. there are some very powerful code breakers in the world. and we certainly have cussio discussions about our own u.s. capability to break codes quite often up here. but the second is we've had this series of reported crimes. one was a bitcoin savings and trust which ran a pyramid scheme in bitcoins. we also had the hacking of a bitcoin exchange called bit floor. and as it was reported, 24,000 bitcoins were stolen.2 and we had instawallet, a wallet provider that was hacked and ed. they lost 35,000 bitcoins. th
over to you, mr. chairman. >> senator merkley? >> thank you very much. i wanted to ask a couple things related to different forms of crimes that -- quote crimes thaa have occurred with bitcoins. the first thing i want to ask i there is a centralized public ledger that's encrypted. so the anonymity is only in ulyn terms of -- you're not truly anonymous. there is an encrypted version of who owns what. so one concern about the, if you will, the reliability of the currency is whether...
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Nov 5, 2013
11/13
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mr. president, i'd like to address the business pending before the united states senate, the employment nondiscrimination act, and ask consent that it be shown in a separate part of the record from my earlier statement. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, it was about 20 years ago that i first heard the name margarithe camemyer. it turns out she was a remarkable woman. she started off during the vietnam era as a combat nurse. she risked her life in vietnam to save the lives of those who were in battle and those who were injured and wounded. and then after the war she rose through the ranks and became a colonel in the united states air force. there came a time when she had to make a disclosure, a regular disclosure, and in that disclosure she said for the first time publicly that she was gay. margarithe camemyer, a colonel in the air force conceded she was tkpwaeufplt as a result she was -- conceded she was gay. as a result she was dismissed fro
mr. president, i'd like to address the business pending before the united states senate, the employment nondiscrimination act, and ask consent that it be shown in a separate part of the record from my earlier statement. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, it was about 20 years ago that i first heard the name margarithe camemyer. it turns out she was a remarkable woman. she started off during the vietnam era as a combat nurse. she risked her life in...
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Nov 19, 2013
11/13
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mr. president, and it sums up why this problem has been fest experg why we need action this year. but i think we also know that we're not all here because of the statistics. we're here because of real people. because each and every one of the numbers is a personal story of grief and we know them all too well. whether it was a sexual assault scandal last year at lackland air force base in texas where a dozen or more basic training instructors were accused of sexually assaulting female trainees, or the more reason case at the air base in italy where an air force general decided to reinstate a pilot without explanation, despite the fact that this pilot had been convicted of sexual assault charges in a court-martial by a jury of his peers. i think of kimberly wellnick from mora, minnesota, someone maybe not everyone has heard of. she served with the marines in iraq. in 2005, she was handcuffed to a bed and assaulted by a fellow marine, her supervisor. she reported him. the end result? he was
mr. president, and it sums up why this problem has been fest experg why we need action this year. but i think we also know that we're not all here because of the statistics. we're here because of real people. because each and every one of the numbers is a personal story of grief and we know them all too well. whether it was a sexual assault scandal last year at lackland air force base in texas where a dozen or more basic training instructors were accused of sexually assaulting female trainees,...
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Nov 20, 2013
11/13
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mrs., mr. cotney. miss shasky-cavalry, if you could start. >> chairman warner and merkley, rafrking members kirk and heller and members of the subcommittee. i'm jennifer s hachlt sky calvery, the director of the financial crimes enforcement network. i'm pleased to be here to i'm he discuss the work we're doing at finsen to prevent illicit actors from exploiting the u.s. financial system as technological advances such as g virtual currency create new ways to move money. recognizing the potential for abuse of emerging new payment a methods anymd understanding tha anti-money laundering l protections must keep pace with these advancements, finsen begag working with our partners several years ago to study the issue. here's what we learned.le illicit actors might decide to use virtual currency for many of the same reasons as legitimate a users but also for some more us nefarious ones.specif specifically, an ullist-it actor may choose to use virtual ency b currency becauseec it provides anonymi anonymity, is
mrs., mr. cotney. miss shasky-cavalry, if you could start. >> chairman warner and merkley, rafrking members kirk and heller and members of the subcommittee. i'm jennifer s hachlt sky calvery, the director of the financial crimes enforcement network. i'm pleased to be here to i'm he discuss the work we're doing at finsen to prevent illicit actors from exploiting the u.s. financial system as technological advances such as g virtual currency create new ways to move money. recognizing the...
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Nov 6, 2013
11/13
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thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. >> the chief senate sponsor of the employer nondiscrimination act, senator jeff merkley of oregon spoke on the senate floor urging passage of the bill. he spoke about the history of the measure and quoted senator edward kennedy to a regionally introduced the bill in 2009. this is 25 minutes. >> mr. president. >> senator from oregon. >> i appreciate the comments my colleague from maryland who has argued so well that the time has come to take a bold step in favor of equality, in favor of fairness and pass the employer nondiscrimination act. i too rise to speak to the importance of this action. the declaration of independence in its second paragraph says in words that are famous and well known to all americans, we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, said that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. certainly that vision of life, liberty and the purs
thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. >> the chief senate sponsor of the employer nondiscrimination act, senator jeff merkley of oregon spoke on the senate floor urging passage of the bill. he spoke about the history of the measure and quoted senator edward kennedy to a regionally introduced the bill in 2009. this is 25 minutes. >> mr. president. >> senator from oregon. >> i appreciate the comments my colleague from maryland who has argued so well that the time...
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Nov 6, 2013
11/13
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mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from delaware is recognized. mr. carper: good afternoon, mr. president, my colleague from oregon. my wife ran into one of her colleagues the other day, ted kaufman. he was the interim senator, succeeded joe biden and held down that slot for two years until senator chris coons was elected on his own not that long ago. one of the things i loved about ted, every month he would come to the floor and he would talk about a different federal employee. sometimes i've heard our colleagues, other people talk about federal employees or state and local employees as nameless, faceless bureaucrats. in a derisive way, unflattering, uncomplimentary and i suspect dispiriting. and the foacts who serve in federal government or state and local government do so usually not because it pays a lot of money, because they get huge bouquets and a lot of credit, they just want to do something constructive with their lives. but ted used to do that every month.
mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from delaware is recognized. mr. carper: good afternoon, mr. president, my colleague from oregon. my wife ran into one of her colleagues the other day, ted kaufman. he was the interim senator, succeeded joe biden and held down that slot for two years until senator chris coons was elected on his own not that long ago. one of the things i loved about ted, every month he would come to the floor and he would talk about a different federal...
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Nov 7, 2013
11/13
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mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. and i -- i thank my colleague who preceded me, who has summarized the substantial bipartisan collaboration that took place to bring this bill to this point, this bill that we will -- we'll be voting on in just a few minutes. and no one has done more than she has done to advance this conversation over many, many years. and i thank the senator from maine for those incredible efforts on behalf of ending discrimination and advancing liberty and opportunity. today the senate will vote to break the chains of discrimination that hold back millions of lgbt americans from the full promise of liberty. liberty -- the freedom to participate full until our society from the public square to the voting booth to the school, to the workplace. liberty, that quality deeply rooted in our national journey and embedded in our declaration of independence -- quote -- "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and
mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. and i -- i thank my colleague who preceded me, who has summarized the substantial bipartisan collaboration that took place to bring this bill to this point, this bill that we will -- we'll be voting on in just a few minutes. and no one has done more than she has done to advance this conversation over many, many years. and i thank the senator from maine for those incredible efforts on behalf of ending discrimination and advancing liberty and opportunity....
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Nov 5, 2013
11/13
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mr. blumenthal: thank you. i want to begin by thanking a number of my colleagues for their leadership. senators merkley and harkin and others in this body who have championed the employment nondiscrimination act known as enda over many years with great passion and constancy, and now we are literally on the verge of approving this historic measure in this body and hopefully in the house of representatives. i've heard from numerous organizations that represent america's workforce. i'm quoting the u.a.w.. this legislation represents a step in the right direction toward providing equal opportunity for all americans. that message is also carried by america's faith leaders, our business community generally, and many others who have fought over the years for civil rights and civil liberties. it is one of the paramount civil rights issues of our time, and i'm proud to be fighting for it. i'd like to mention some of the american businesses that have stepped forward to endorse this legislation. beringer engelhi evment im
mr. blumenthal: thank you. i want to begin by thanking a number of my colleagues for their leadership. senators merkley and harkin and others in this body who have championed the employment nondiscrimination act known as enda over many years with great passion and constancy, and now we are literally on the verge of approving this historic measure in this body and hopefully in the house of representatives. i've heard from numerous organizations that represent america's workforce. i'm quoting the...